Senior Project Officer

Job Description

Program / Department Summary

This emergency response effort is expected to be part of a coordinated multi-agency consortium approach, for which Mercy Corps is the lead agency. Each consortium technical partner will take the lead on setting the guidance and standards for various components of the program, for which all teams will implement at the district level on a consistent basis. The program will ensure basic needs for the most vulnerable in Nepal, as a response to the COVID-19 epidemic but also to ensure that the resilience of vulnerable households is strengthened and maintained into the monsoon season. Activities will include emergency assistance, social and behavior change communications, WASH, health and nutrition programming, cross-cutting protection work, and key linkages to government shock responsive social protection systems, including influencing the humanitarian community via key lessons learned and knowledge management materials. The program will cover four provinces, including 6 districts and is expected to last approximately 6 months.

General Position Summary

Mercy Corps is looking for an experienced Senior Project Officer to support implementing partners for Resilience Plus program implementation and day-to-day field monitoring at the ground. As part of the emergency response team, s/he will work closely with the program partners, Technical Program Manager, and technical experts on the implementation. The Senior Project Officer will be directly responsible for providing coordination, representation, facilitation and monitoring of three implementing partners at the ground. In close coordination with the Technical Program Manager, s/he will be responsible for managing relationships with local implementing NGOs coordinating technical support for the implementation of program activities. S/he, with assistance from the technical experts and Technical Program Manager, will map all appropriate coordination mechanisms for the province (government, clusters, related programs, etc.) attending and representing forums on behalf of the program and/or Mercy Corps. S/he will represent Mercy Corps in the program implementation area and, as such, is expected to establish and maintain cordial, professional and productive relationships with all appropriate and relevant government, donor, NGOs/INGOs, civil society and private sector stakeholders as needed. The Technical Officer is responsible for meeting reporting requirements and adhering to deadlines and serves as the Mercy Corps/Resilience Plus primary liaison with district stakeholders, program partners and beneficiary communities at the target districts.
The Senior Project Officer will be expected to work closely with Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning focal points. Moreover, as gender equality and social inclusion (GESI), child safeguarding, governance and environmental sensitivity are cross-cutting and core components of the all MC programs, the Senior Project Officer is required to own these components and ensure these components are integrated into his/her work area. S/he should support the GESI and child safeguarding assessments in coordination with MEAL Manager and Safeguarding Focal point.

Essential Job Responsibilities

The specific duties and responsibilities of the Senior Project Officer include, but are not limited to, the following:

PROGRAM IMPLEMENTAION

• S/he ensures the local implementing partner (LNGO) fully understands the program areas of implementation.
• Facilitate and support the local implementing partners to fully implement the program activities on the ground.
• Work with the LNGOs to ensure they fully take ownership for the program and support them to build relationships with both local and government sector collaborating agencies and departments.
• Maintain close and cooperative working relationships with LNGO’s finance & program staff, provide inputs in the effective financial management, ensure the monthly and quarterly reports submitted to Mercy Corps are in timely fashion, accurate and related with program activities before sending to Partnership Manager. As appropriate, overseeing financial/accounting activities are carried out in accordance with subaward agreement and accounting principles.
• Ensure the fund projections are correct and sufficient to carry out the activities for projected timeframe. Monitor the fund request/receipt and ensure all installments are correctly reflected in the report
• Support the implementing partner to organize events /workshops/training as needed and conduct /participate in monthly meetings with LNGO.
• Coordinate with the technical experts and the Technical Program Manager in the Centre to ensure technical support is timely accessed by the implementing partner and oversee its implementation effectively. Support implementing partner staff are fully up to date in their respective technical issues and are able to timely implement.
• Utilize personal knowledge, connections, and skills to build sustainable and productive relationships with and between diverse key stakeholders from the public, private and civic sectors
• Ensure GESI and humanitarian principles are owned by the implementing partner and implemented accordingly.
• Participate in program planning events as and when required
• Support partners to take lead on and ensure the program is collaborating and sequencing with other similar programs in the relevant areas.

MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING (MEL) AND REPORTING

• Monitor program activities on a regular basis to ensure timely and effective program implementation.
• Ensure monitoring of field activities to be on time, target and budget, and propose recommendations for improvements.
• Ensure organization of regular District Project Advisory Committee (DPAC) monitoring visits and meetings to share program progress and receive feedback.
• Coordinate closely with Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Manager to generate and collect required information and data for measuring program intervention results.
• Support implementing partners to prepare monthly/quarterly plans and reports.
• Support implementing partners to generate weekly updates, quality progress reports and documents that capture program learning, good practices and success stories.
• Ensure that innovative approaches, good practices, challenges, and positive results are documented to support agency learning.
• Follow reporting requirements and report to the Supervisor as required.
• Support the achievement of deliverables and overall quality of work of any internal or external evaluation or research partners in the field.
• Establish good coordination with humanitarian clusters, local, district and provincial governments, non-government stakeholders and other collaborating partners to prevent duplication of activities.

FINANCE AND COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT

• Ensure all internal control procedures are adhered to and that necessary measures are put in place to ensure high standards of accountability and compliance.
• Work closely with finance/compliance to mitigate fraud, conflict of interest and legal ramifications of Mercy Corps activities.
• Support and orient on MC Code of Ethics and uphold Mercy Corps’ Zero tolerance of corruption policy.

INFLUENCE & REPRESENTATION

• As required by the program management at both district and province levels liaise with and represent the program to local government officials, humanitarian clusters, AIN forums, civil society/community leaders, political parties and other key stakeholders.
• Ensure close coordination and information sharing with local implementing partners, local government and other implementers, as well as with other Mercy Corps programs.
• Establish and maintain professional and productive relationships with communities and local government.
• Serve as a key focal point for program related issues and problems in the ground and seek support from central level as required.

SECURITY

• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.
• Proactively ensure that team members and community operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.

ORGANIZATION LEARNING

• As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.

ACCOUNTABILITY TO BENEFICIARIES

• Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
• Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

SAFEGUARDING AND ETHICS

• All Mercy Corps staff members are expected to behave ethically and demonstrate the highest integrity in their professional and personal life. Mercy Corps has zero tolerance to any form of fraud, corruption, abuse, harassment or exploitation. Any breach of our policies or misconduct will lead to disciplinary action or may lead to termination.
• Mercy Corps has zero tolerance for abuse, sexual misconduct and sexual exploitation (PSEA) of the people we work with and our own staff members. All staff must commit to internal policies.

OTHER

• Ensure proper integration of safeguarding and GESI aspects into sector specific project planning and implementation.
• Mercy Corps as a humanitarian agency is expected to respond as and when crisis and humanitarian situation engulfs. As an MC employee all staff are expected to be part of humanitarian and emergency response in addition to their regular roles and responsibilities.
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
• Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and not to jeopardize its humanitarian mission.
• Other duties as assigned by his/her supervisor and or Country Director.

Supervisory Responsibility

NONE

Accountability
Reports Directly to: Technical Program Manager

Works Directly with: Technical Program Manager, MEAL Manager, CVA Advisor, SRSP Advisor, and Partnership Manager, Dhangadhi Office’s Finance, and Operations unit.

Knowledge and Experience

• At least Bachelor degree in DRR, social sciences, Development Studies/Management or any related discipline.
• At least 3-5 years of experience working with I/NGOs, and/or private sector organizations focused on development or humanitarian assistance.
• Experiences working in partnerships, coordination among different stakeholders and organizations at district/province/national level is required.
• Work experiences and understanding on emergency assistance, M&E, cash and voucher programming, social protection, and SBCC will be an added advantage.
• Strong community capacity building, development and facilitation skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work in complex environments under tight deadlines.
• Strong organizational and logistical skills with demonstrated experience in strategic planning and ability to work independently are required.
• Good writing and computer skills, including preliminary research and information gathering from the internet, MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint preparation are required.
• Fluency in written and spoken English and Nepali required.
• Effective writing skills to prepare reports, complete analyses and make presentations.
• Negotiation, networking, advocacy, coordination and representation skills with key local actors is preferred
• Ability to work effectively with an ethnically diverse team in a sensitive environment.
• Proven ability to learn quickly, facilitate program implementation to achieve stated results and objectives;
• Ability to effectively represent Mercy Corps and its interests to key stakeholders;

Success Factors

The successful Senior Project Officer will combine serious professional management/coordination skills and experience in the field either of emergency assistance, M&E, cash and voucher programming, social protection, and SBCC as well as in building and maintaining government, community and partner relationships. S/he will have proven ability to learn quickly, take initiative, and be accountable for results, with an ability and willingness to remain mobile for field support and activity monitoring based on programmatic needs. S/he will have an ability to think creatively about contributing directly and measurably to program approaches, and have experiences in both community mobilization and government engagement. S/he will have proven experience with diverse teams and capacity building, individual staff development, and strong mentoring skills. Multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem solving and simultaneous attention to detail as well as strategic vision are essential.
The most successful Mercy Corps staff members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments and make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all situations. Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

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